Application of a location model to fire stations in Rotterdam

Abstract

This report is an outgrowth of a research project carried out by the Operations Research Group of Twente University of Technology in cooperation with the Department Fire-Brigade Affairs (Home Office) and the Rotterdam Fire Department. The objectives of the project were to determine the minimal number of fire stations, their locations and the number of first attendance pumpers, so that each point in town can be reached within a prescribed attendance time with sufficient equipment. A road network approach was used for determining the set of possible location areas for fire stations followed by a set-covering approach for calculating the minimal number of stations. The hard points to tackle were the construction of robust networks, the determination of the possible location areas and the calculation of all the alternative locations of a minimal number of fire stations. A simulation was carried out to test whether the solutions given by the network approach were realistic.